Advocates of Texas’ new single-sticker system are hoping it results in a more efficient process for inspecting vehicles and renewing their registration as well as safer cars on the road and fewer fraudulent stickers.

Starting March 1 drivers will no longer receive separate stickers for inspection and registration. Drivers will no longer receive an inspection sticker, and instead, the registration sticker will serve as proof of both. Once the vehicle passes inspection the status is entered into the DPS database, and the vehicle owner receives a printed verification of the passed inspection for his or her records. Fees remain the same. The one-year transition phase allows drivers to sync the expiration dates of their two stickers. If a vehicle’s inspection is still valid at the time of registration, the vehicle owner may renew the registration. If not, the owner will need to have the vehicle inspected before registration. “The reason for this sync-up is to avoid having Texans coming in twice for inspection in a calendar year,” said Whitney Brewster, executive director of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Starting March 1, 2016, drivers will have 90 days to complete both the inspection and registration renewal before the expiration of the single stickers. In May 2013 the 83rd Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2305 authorizing the single-sticker system. The issue was brought up by the Texas State Inspection Association, said state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. “We wanted to make certain [vehicle inspectors] weren’t losing money and were part of the process in terms of going to the single-sticker approach,” West said. “By having them at the table they’ll still get the benefit of staying in business and getting the same amount they would ordinarily get for inspections.”